Cleaning those Gold Header Pipes

[Yahmy]

I recently did a trip of about 3000km to the coast and did a fair share of dirt road. In fact muddy roads and water puddles for kilometers at end, after a severe Thunder Storm and hard rain. Well, I enjoyed the trip tremendously, but the header pipes are now stained with blueish spots and marks. Water and soap on a cold engine does not help at all. I will appreciate some advice on how to restore and clean the pipes again, since I miss that lovely golden shine!

 

[Koinz]

don't know how persistant you are with the keeping the pipes that clean, but there used to be a product called "blue job". I never used it before and I don't what it would do to the gold colour. I thought the Gold color was actually some kind of coating to prevent them rusting. Good topic though to discuss.

 

[ptfjjj]

I was actually thinking about getting my header pipes ceramic coated when I get my new muffler done. It can be done in a variety of colors, but since the engine is black, I'm thinking that I may do the whole exhaust in matte black ceramic. I'm not certain, though. Any thoughts?

 

[rocca]

I recently did a trip of about 3000km to the coast and did a fair share of dirt road. In fact muddy roads and water puddles for kilometers at end, after a severe Thunder Storm and hard rain. Well, I enjoyed the trip tremendously, but the header pipes are now stained with blueish spots and marks. Water and soap on a cold engine does not help at all. I will appreciate some advice on how to restore and clean the pipes again, since I miss that lovely golden shine!

Autosol and elbow grease get the worst of the marks off mine (and also take the pipes back to silver - which lasts only 'til you next start the engine when they turn golden again).

Not sure if there are other effective "miracle" cleaners out there. Probably something (or some implement) which is slightly more abrasive is needed.

I've just fitted a "fenda extenda" to the bottom of the front mudguard which hopefully will stop the worst of the crap getting sprayed off the front wheel and onto the exhaust headers.

 

[ptfjjj]

BTW, here is what Koinz was referring to. I've never used it, but looks promising.

http://www.blue-job.com/

 

[ptfjjj]

Check out the video of the guy using "blue job" to remove the blueing and then he uses Easy Off oven cleaner to remove a melted plastic bag that stuck to the tail pipe. I had never seen anyone use over cleaner on an exhaust pipe, but it works great!

Motorcycle Exhaust Problems Tip of the Week

 

[Venture]

I always thought that the bluing and discoloration was unavoidable since it's due to the exhaust gas temperature. If you buff it out/off, it'll just come back. I think the ceramic coating suggestion is probably the best if it really bothers you.

 

[Koinz]

I had never seen anyone use over cleaner on an exhaust pipe, but it works great

I have used oven cleaner and it does work well.

My concern would be the Gold Coating - I have cleaned chrome pipes, but I have no idea what this gold stuff is....and if you use a harsh chemical to remove the blue, will it remove the gold coating as well. I'm sure it's some kind of protective coating to begin with.

 

[ptfjjj]

looking at pictures of the Wasp bike late in the thread, there is still no blueing except the welds for the O2 sensor. Curious. Makes me think that cleaning the pipe would probably result in the same gold color. If Yahmy attempts to clean it, perhaps he could report back on the results.

 

[Yahmy]

I will surely report back if I am successfull and also if I was not. Well, as you said, I am after that Gold Shine! It seems that a soft abrasive polish and lots of elbow grease will probably do the trick.

On other forums and web in general I read about the oven cleaner and soft steel wool. However, I really do not want to scratch and dull the whole finish. The bluish colour at the top of the headers on the engine side is normal, I think. In my case it is more like blue watermarks/stains that I guess formed by muddy water spashing on to warm headerpipes during the trip.

 

[Kevhunts]

I thought the pipes on the S10 were polished stainless steel that just turned a shade of gold after getting hot?

Doesn't stainless steel typically turn gold and chrome turn blue?

 

[ptfjjj]

I thought the pipes on the S10 were polished stainless steel that just turned a shade of gold after getting hot?

Doesn't stainless steel typically turn gold and chrome turn blue?

Is that so? If that is the case, then blue job should do the trick. Hey Yahmy? Is "blue job" available anywhere over there? If not, perhaps in Europe?

 

[RMac]

I use a regular Chrome polish and it works quite well. I think, but not sure, that it contains hyrdrogen peroxide which acts as a bleaching agent? It removes staining and also returns the gold colour back to the original silver colour. The right hand header pipe in particular seems to develop a blue stain just at the first bend at the engine outlet. I have not been able to remove this completely with the chrome polish. Yes, the gold colouration returns after the next ride. No, the gold colour is not a "coating".

 

[2XADV]

The Gold Coating is Chrome Oxide!

Little Metalurgy Lesson:

Stainless Steel is an Iron - Nickel - Chrome alloy. All 3 of those metals are "Ferrous" elements and that is why they alloy well.

Cr (Chrome) is a really tough element that is super hard and forms a very non-porus sealed surface. It is so hard that they plate Engine Valve stems with thick coatings to make them last a long time. The Cr plating on bumpers and trims etc. is pretty thin and is actually covered with shiny Nickel plating to give it a polished look and keep the Cr from turning brown. The Chrome on the bumper under the nickel is to keep the underlying metal from rusting.

The problem with Cr is also the good part of Cr. When it oxidizes it yellows and keeps getting darker until it turns fully brown. The CrOx (Chrome Oxide) interlinks and makes a really tight super-sealed (almost ceramic) brown surface. The Iron and Nickel in stainless steel slowly burn-off or are sealed behind the CrOx until the CROx coating fully seals the surface. Once the surface is fully CrOx sealed the process stops. When you polish the brown or yellow color away, you are removing the CrOx and leaving a Iron, Nickel, Chrome alloy surface that starts the entie process over again. It is fun to polish, but if you get to enjoy the brown color your pipes will actually last longer.

You can wake-up now.....

 

[RMac]

Re: The Gold Coating is Chrome Oxide!

Little Metalurgy Lesson:

Stainless Steel is an Iron - Nickel - Chrome alloy. All 3 of those metals are "Ferrous" elements and that is why they alloy well.

Cr (Chrome) is a really tough element that is super hard and forms a very non-porus sealed surface. It is so hard that they plate Engine Valve stems with thick coatings to make them last a long time. The Cr plating on bumpers and trims etc. is pretty thin and is actually covered with shiny Nickel plating to give it a polished look and keep the Cr from turning brown. The Chrome on the bumper under the nickel is to keep the underlying metal from rusting.

The problem with Cr is also the good part of Cr. When it oxidizes it yellows and keeps getting darker until it turns fully brown. The CrOx (Chrome Oxide) interlinks and makes a really tight super-sealed (almost ceramic) brown surface. The Iron and Nickel in stainless steel slowly burn-off or are sealed behind the CrOx until the CROx coating fully seals the surface. Once the surface is fully CrOx sealed the process stops. When you polish the brown or yellow color away, you are removing the CrOx and leaving a Iron, Nickel, Chrome alloy surface that starts the entie process over again. It is fun to polish, but if you get to enjoy the brown color your pipes will actually last longer.

You can wake-up now.....

Well, there you go. Now we know...

 

[colorider]

Re: The Gold Coating is Chrome Oxide!

It is fun to polish, but if you get to enjoy the brown color your pipes will actually last longer.

You can wake-up now.....

Thanks for the info!! I just continue to wipe them down whenever I wash the bike and save the polish for the rest of the bike!

;D

 

[pqsqac]

Re: The Gold Coating is Chrome Oxide!

That's another thing I won't miss with my bike, polishing chrome. There's something to say about these adventure bikes hose it down and put it away.

Thanks for the info!! I just continue to wipe them down whenever I wash the bike and save the polish for the rest of the bike!

;D

 

[Yahmy]

Well, at the end of the day I used all tricks and quickies to get those headers clean, and none of them worked. So it was back to good old Autosol Metal Polish and a few hours and cloths later we were back like new. One thing I must mention is that I always liked the golden brown color on the exhaust header pipes, but had to polish those pipes till it looked like chrome/nickel/mirror shine. Within a few kilometers the colour turned back to the original and I am rid of those ugly blue spots!

I still dont like polishing things!!!! But had to!!!1

Thanks to all for the advise.

 

[ptfjjj]

So the Blue Job did not work?

 

[Yahmy]

I did not try the BlueJob, since it is way too expensive and it is actually intended for chrome and not stainless. Also saw some negative feedback from product reviews on the net, so i did not want to buy something that I am not absolutely sure of. BlueJob costs about 60 USD in South Africa versus about 6USD fot Autosol Metal polish.